Filed to story: The Vampire Prince’s Bride
My body buzzed with pleasure the moment her sweet, delicious blood hit my tongue. This was what I was meant to have been drinking the entire time I’d been in the Vale. The bottled stuff had nothing on blood fresh from the vein.
But I barely had a taste of it before the woman screamed and pushed at me. Instantly, the other women in the room to woke up and started screaming, too.
They needed to shut up.
I threw the woman to the ground and turned around, ready to compel the others into submission. But one of them was already heading toward the stairs, and another was running at me with a stake.
They didn’t seriously think they could pull one over on me, did they?
I circled the room in seconds, breaking each woman’s neck before they had a chance to realize what was happening. They were weak, vulnerable, and pathetic. They were prey.
They should have thought twice before trying to attack the predator.
Once they were all dead, I returned to the original woman, eager to continue my meal. But her eyes stared blankly ahead- dead.
I shook her, as if that could wake her up, but of course it did nothing. I leaned back and grunted in frustration. This was the only woman in the building whose neck I hadn’t broken. I’d been sure not to break it, since I’d wanted her alive.
So why was she dead? There were no obvious trauma marks on her body.
But then I turned her around and saw that the back of her head was bashed in.
I must have used so much force when I’d thrown her to the floor that the impact had smashed in her skull. Now her blood wasn’t even halfway as appealing as it had been when her heart had been beating.
I scrunched my nose in disgust and tossed her corpse to the floor. All that trouble, and I’d only gotten a sip. One measly sip. I could still taste the blood on my tongue, and it was torturing me-making me even thirstier than before.
I ran out of the building and headed to the closest one across the street, easily pushing through the flimsy lock on the door. Again, I made sure to be quiet-the humans inside couldn’t know I was coming.
It was clear from the giant aluminum casings and elaborate piping inside that I’d entered a distillery. The air inside was warm, smelling like hops and wheat. But those scents paled compared to what I’d come here for-human blood.
Like the other building, the smell of the blood came from the second floor. I ran upstairs and found another room full of bunks. But unlike the last building, this one was full of men, not women.
Just like before, I whizzed around the room, breaking their necks before they had a chance to fight or scream. Unlike before, I stopped when there was one man left standing.
He was middle aged, with a balding head and a beer belly that hung over the top of his pants. He smelled like beer, but then again, everything in this building smelled like beer. His eyes were full of fear, and his lips trembled as he looked at me.
I expected him to beg for his life, but he said nothing.
“Say nothing, and don’t fight me.” I pushed compulsion into my voice, giddy with anticipation as the hypnosis took hold and his eyes glazed over. Then I smiled and sank my fangs into his fleshy neck, ready for the delicious gush of fresh blood.
Instead of the sweetness I’d been anticipating, I got a soured, fermented gulp. His blood tasted like warm beer that had been sitting out for a few days too long.
I ripped my fangs out of his flesh and spat out what I had yet to swallow. “You’re drunk,” I accused, wiping my lips to get rid of the disgusting taste.
He simply smiled and shrugged sheepishly, laughing without making a sound.
Anger exploded through my veins, and I clenched my hands into fists by my sides. He thought this was funny? I’d show him what was funny. Because I hadn’t come all this way and killed so many people to drink bitter, tainted blood. I was going to have my feast, and I was going to do it right.
Which meant I had no more time to waste on this drunken, bumbling idiot.
So I growled at him and snapped his neck, dropping his corpse to the floor before continuing on my way.W hen I re-entered the street, lights were starting to go on in some of the buildings. But the sun was still out-it was far too early for anyone to rise.
I must have created enough noise to stir the humans.
I couldn’t have them wandering around and finding me while I fed. As I’d discovered in the first building-the laundry facility-I was vulnerable while feeding. I’d known to pull away from my meal back then because those women had started screaming. If they’d been stealthier, they could have staked me in the back while I’d been lost in the pleasure of drinking blood, killing me in an instant.
I’d been lucky that time, but I wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
The only thing more important than drinking blood was staying alive.
I ran to the end of the road and turned the corner to the edge of the village, finding a cabin next to a chicken coop. It was perfect-far enough away from the section that had started to wake that I could feed undisturbed.
This time I did it right, killing all of the people inside with one fell swoop and leaving one of them alive to feed from. Her blood was perfect-as sweet as expected-and I only let go once I’d drained her dry.
But it wasn’t enough. I was still hungry. I needed more.
There was another cabin next door, so I barged inside it and did the same thing there.
I’d just dropped the corpse to the floor when terrified eyes peeked out from the crawlspace above. They belonged to a young boy who looked no older than twelve. I must have been so consumed in my urge to feed that I hadn’t thought to check the overhead space. I’d just assumed it was empty.
Now it held one more human whose blood was mine for the taking.
I couldn’t believe I’d missed him earlier. His blood smelled pure-cleaner than any of the others. Perhaps it was because he was a child.
I launched myself up to the crawlspace, licking my lips as I stalked toward him. This was going to be tasty.
“Vampires are supposed to protect us.” The boy held his hands up and backed away, his eyes wide in terror. “Not hurt us.”
But I wasn’t listening to him. All I could hear was the thumping of his heart as it pumped his blood through his veins. His scent was so intoxicating that I was already imagining how delicious it would taste the moment it touched my tongue.
I jumped on him and sank my fangs into his neck, thrilled to find that his blood tasted as good as it smelled. If there was a delicacy amongst blood, child’s blood was surely it.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to finish drinking from him before a needle pricked my neck, injecting me with so much wormwood that I passed out on the spot.I sucked in a sharp breath, my heart racing as I jolted awake.
I was back in my bed in the palace. A woman stood over me-thin, with brown hair and average features. She wore a long necklace with a green gemstone, the color standing out against her all-black outfit.